Standard Lemma guide

bocal

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • bōˈ kəl
  • bō kalˈ
  • /ˈboʊkəl/
  • /boʊˈkæl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -əʊkəl
  • rhymes with -æl

1

noun

Meaning 1

A curved, tapered metal tube which connects the reed of several double reed woodwind instruments (such as the cor anglais, bassoon, and contrabassoon) to the rest of the instrument.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A cylindrical glass vessel with a short wide neck.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from French bocal. Doublet of boccale and pokal.

Across languages

Translations

7 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: tudell — metal tube connecting a double reed to the instrument
  • Catalan: bufador — metal tube connecting a double reed to the instrument
  • French: bocal — metal tube connecting a double reed to the instrument
  • Galician: tudel — metal tube connecting a double reed to the instrument
  • Icelandic: (on bassoons) ess — metal tube connecting a double reed to the instrument
  • Icelandic: krókur — metal tube connecting a double reed to the instrument
  • Spanish: tudel — metal tube connecting a double reed to the instrument